The inheritance

Barbara and theParty

All of this was witnessed by Margareth, George's wife, who leaned over and whispered to her husband:

"Do you see what your mother is doing?"

George shrugged.

"What am I supposed to do? Tell her to stop? I've tried. She doesn't listen to anyone."

"But the guests can see! Everyone can see!"

"Margareth," said George wearily, "Mother stopped caring about what people think a long time ago. She's just playing her little games."

The most uncomfortable moment of the evening arrived when Alexander himself came downstairs. He rarely did so, but that evening something compelled him to appear before the guests.

As he entered the grand salon, the crowd parted before him. Everyone knew him, everyone respected him. His employees rushed over to shake his hand. Business partners acknowledged him with a nod.

"Alexander!" called one of the guests. "What an evening! What a magnificent party!"

Alexander smiled faintly.

"Thank you. I'm glad everyone is enjoying themselves."

At that very moment he caught sight of Barbara standing beside the banker Ben, laughing, her hand resting on the man's arm. Alexander's face turned to stone for a fraction of a second. Then he rearranged it back into his usual composed, measured expression.

Barbara noticed her husband watching. She froze for an instant, then abruptly turned towards Alexander.

"Well, look who's come down! The great businessman himself!" she announced loudly, for all to hear. "You finally honor us with your presence!"

The nearby guests shifted in uncomfortable silence.

Alexander walked towards her. He spoke quietly, calmly.

"Barbara, there are guests."

"I know there are guests!" Barbara's voice grew sharper. "I organised this party! I invited them! You've just come down to show your face, haven't you? As always!"

"Please," Alexander said in a near-whisper, though his eyes were cold, "don't do this now."

Barbara let out a laugh — that theatrical, piercing laugh that made everyone flinch.

"Oh, don't do this? Listen to him, friends! The great Alexander, who grew rich on my father's money, is now asking me not to do this!" She turned back to Ben with a sweet smile. "You see, Ben? This is exactly what I was telling you about."

Ben the banker suddenly found himself extremely interested in examining his wine glass.

Alexander cast one long, deep look at Barbara — a look that held pain, contempt, and infinite exhaustion all at once. Then he turned and walked back to his study.

Silence fell. Then someone cleared their throat, and the atmosphere slowly returned.

Barbara spotted her best friend Vera among the guests.

"Oh, how wonderful that you could come, dear Vera! Lately I only hear your voice on the telephone." She took her arm and mingled with the guests. But Vera wanted to introduce her to someone.

"Come, Barbara, you must meet someone. The husband of one of my old friends is here at the party. The poor man isn't quite himself yet — he lost his wife only eight months ago. He's only just started going out again. Let me introduce you — he owns a car dealership. If you ever want a new car, for yourself or the boys, he's your man. This is Lewis Miller."

But that name hit Barbara like a cold shower.

"What did you say? Who do you want to introduce me to?"

"Never mind his name, he's a very charming gentleman — Lewis Miller," Vera chattered on.

Barbara felt the ground shift beneath her feet. She swayed slightly, but by then she was already standing before the man her friend so desperately wanted her to meet.

"My respects, dear lady. I am Lewis Miller."

"You... you... you... you're here? Don't you recognize me, Lewis?" Barbara's face alternated between deathly pale and burning crimson.

"Should I know you, dear lady?" the man replied with dignity.

Barbara gathered herself in an instant and took his arm.

"Come with me. If you are who I think you are, we need to talk. If not, I will apologize."

"But madam, I don't know you. My friends brought me here — they said it was a quiet party, and that it was time for me to get out again, since I lost my dear wife not long ago." The man seemed to protest, but Barbara steered him through the guests with such determination that he had no real choice but to follow.

Once they reached the terrace, Barbara stopped and looked deep into the man's eyes.

"Does the name Barbara Blackwood mean anything to you?"

"What?! Barbara Blackwood? Surely you're joking, madam? She was my first great love — but her father wouldn't let her marry me because I wasn't rich enough back then." His voice trembled as he continued. "We were even secretly engaged, but the wedding never happened. I thought my heart would break. But there was nothing to be done, because Barbara..." He paused, staring at the woman before him. "Your name is also Barbara, madam?" Then in a shaking voice: "Is it really you, Barbara? But how? Where is your husband — why aren't you at his side? If I recall correctly, you had to marry him because your father had lost everything at the races."

"Not another word! Don't ever repeat what you just said. Yes, I am Barbara. But everyone here believes that it was my parents' money that made my husband rich — Alexander Harrington." She hissed the words through clenched teeth.

"What?! Alexander Harrington is your husband? He's my best client. I have never in my life met a more honest businessman."

"Oh, don't praise him to me! I know very well who I've been warming at my bosom. Don't upset yourself — from what I hear, he's quite ill. I hope he dies soon, and then all of this will be mine. Imagine the parties we'll have then."

"Barbara! How can you speak of your husband like that? He saved your family from ending up on the streets, and this is how you repay him?"

"Saved us? My father killed himself because of him — he had him moved out to the countryside." Barbara snapped. "Not another word! I thought perhaps there might still be something between us, for the sake of old memories."

"You know, Barbara, I loved my wife very much. Back then you chose your parents over me, which was understandable at the time. But I would rather remain alone now than..." He was about to continue, but Vera had found them and wrapped her arms around both of them, bursting into laughter.

"Oh wonderful, I've finally found you two little lovebirds! Why have you been hiding out here? What are you whispering about?"

"Nothing of importance." Barbara left her former fiancé without a second glance, tucked her arm into Vera's and hurried back to the guests. She glanced back once, shooting daggers at Lewis, who stood bewildered, unsure of what had just happened.

He found his companions he'd arrived with.

"Mathew! Thank goodness I found you. Come here, I have something to tell you about the lady of the house." He drew his friend away from the others.

"About Barbara? About this charming creature that everyone adores so much? What could you possibly know about her — you hadn't even met her until this evening," replied Mathew, puzzled.

"Well, as it turns out, I thought the same. Turns out I was wrong — and the strangest part of it all is that her husband is my best client. And she speaks of him as though he were a dirty dishrag. Yet it was Alexander who built everything here." Lewis sighed deeply. He was about to continue when Barbara came storming out of the crowd towards him.

"If you tell anyone what you said to me just now, I promise I will make your life a living hell. Do you understand?" she hissed in his ear, then switched to a honeyed tone for the benefit of those nearby. "Dear Lewis, I do hope you're enjoying yourself."

But Lewis was not a man easily frightened, and he whispered back into Barbara's ear:

"I have already been through hell — when I lost my wife. Everyone in this city knows me. I built every penny of my fortune with my own hands — I don't dress myself in other people's feathers. But you — you are a fraud. And don't you ever threaten me." Then pleasantly, for all to hear: "It was a lovely party, thank you so much for having me. Though the food was rather sparse and the wine was of questionable quality. I think I'll be going now. Good evening."

"I beg your pardon?! Who do you think you are, saying such things at my party?!" Barbara spluttered — but she had no one left to argue with, for Lewis had already moved on. In his place appeared her earlier conquest, Ben, who wrapped an arm around Barbara as though it were the most natural thing in the world and steered the flustered woman back towards the guests.

"Don't mind him, darling — the party is magnificent, just like you. Perhaps we could meet tomorrow in the park, and then I'd love to invite you back to my little place for a bit of fun." He pressed himself against her. But he had clearly had too much to drink, and Barbara pushed him firmly away.

"You reek of alcohol — leave me alone. I am a lady of quality, not someone who romps around with other men."

"You'd romp quite happily if the right man came along."

Anna, who had witnessed everything, gripped Peter's arm.

"Peter," she said, her voice trembling, "how long can this go on? How long can Alex endure this?"

Peter said nothing. He simply stared at the door through which his father had left, and felt that something had broken irrevocably tonight.

Something that could never be put back together.

After midnight, Alexander finally emerged from his study. The party was over, the guests gone. The house was silent again — that heavy, stifling silence that always settled after the loud evenings.

He went to the kitchen for a glass of water.

He found Anna there, still lingering, sitting on the kitchen counter with a cup of tea.

"Anna? You're still here?"

"I couldn't bring myself to go home. Peter fell asleep in the sitting room." She set down her cup. "I saw you, Alex. I saw your face when Barbara..."

"Don't," Alexander raised his hand. "You don't need to."

"But I do." Anna stepped down from the counter and looked him straight in the eye. "Because no one else will tell you. No one else dares. What happened tonight was a disgrace, Alex. What she did was a disgrace. Everyone saw it."

Alexander sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and buried his face in his hands.

"I know."

"Then why do you put up with it?"

A long silence.

"Because I have a secret," Alexander said at last, so quietly Anna barely heard him. "A very large secret. And as long as that secret exists... I have to endure it."

Anna sat down beside him and touched his hand.

"Whatever secret it is, it's not worth what you're paying for it."

Alexander looked up. His eyes were tired, but somewhere deep within them, something glimmered — a smoldering, hidden light.

"Perhaps you're right, Anna. But I can assure you — it will all be over soon." He smiled, faintly, almost imperceptibly. "Sooner than you might think."

Anna didn't fully understand what he meant. But she felt that behind Alexander's words lay something enormous, something that had been building for long years.

Something that was going to change everything.